In the preparation and administration of different medications, medical personal are required to make sure that only the correct drugs, accurate dosages, and proper equipment is used. In the simplest case all that is required is that the producer, e.g. a pharmacist or a pharmacy tech, use a syringe to withdraw the required volume of a drug in liquid form from a vial or capsule in which it has been packaged by the manufacturer and then to transfer the syringe to a doctor or nurse to inject the withdrawn volume of drug directly into a vein of the patient or into an infusion bag. In a more complex procedure the drug may come in powdered form contained within a vial and must be reconstituted by injecting a suitable diluent, e.g. distilled and/or deionized water or saline solution into the vial with a syringe, thoroughly mixed, and then the required dosage withdrawn using the same in a different syringe.
In hospital settings each patient may receive medication in many forms, e.g. pills, injections, and IV drips. Each patient receives his own individual prescription according to a schedule determined by his doctor. Depending on the hospital's procedures, a pharmacist or a pharmacy-technician is responsible for preparing the prescribed medication, including compounding medications by combining and/or processing appropriate ingredient(s) utilizing various pieces of medical equipment, properly labeling the medication for each patient, and providing it to a nurse for administration.
Amongst the more complex and potentially dangerous procedures carried out in hospital pharmacies is the compounding of “cocktails” for treatment of diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Because of the hazardous nature of the drugs that make up the cocktail, the complexity of their preparation, the accurate dosage required, the frequency by with they are administered to the patient, and the physical condition of the patient, a great deal of skill and attention to detail is required in their preparation. Chemotherapeutic agents are usually prescribed by a medical oncologist or a hematologist. A chemotherapy regimen (schedule) typically consists of a specific number of cycles given over a set period of time. A patient may receive one drug at a time or combinations of different drugs at the same time. After the chemotherapeutic agent is prepared for the patient, the patient receives the medication, which can be administered intravenously, orally, as an injection to the fatty part of the arm, leg, or abdomen, intra arterially, intraperitoneally, or topically.
Obviously the consequences to the patient, of errors in compounding the drugs, can be very severe; however, also contact with the drugs or their vapors can be potentially very hazardous to the personal that prepare the medicaments and administer them as well. Therefore proper protocols must also be followed “to the letter” to avoid errors and accidents.
To prevent, or at least to minimize, the number of mistakes many methods and systems, including computerized systems, which monitor the work of the pharmacist/pharmacy-technician, and alert when a mistake occurs, have been devised.
An example of a prior art system with an automated machine for preparation of pharmaceutical products is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,297,320. This patent describes an apparatus contained within a box-type holding frame, which defines a chamber. The apparatus is comprised of a gripping and carrier mechanism to transfer a container between a magazine containing a plurality of containers, e.g. syringes, and a dosage station comprising a flat turntable, adapted to receive and hold three syringes having different diameters and lengths, where the pharmaceutical product is prepared. The chamber has an access aperture to the magazine. A pneumatic device, with a fan wheel to assure air circulation, is adapted to supply a sterile air flow through the entire chamber and to prevent the exchange of air with the outside environment.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a complete system for guiding, monitoring, and documenting the process of preparation of medication for administration to patients.
Further purposes and advantages of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.